How old were you when you first used the internet?

[Wolfe]

Do you remember an old peer 2 peer program for the Mac? Can't quite remember the name. Something Hat I think. You could host a file server on your machine or load up someone else's with their client software. Has chat room functionality as well. It was the first time I recall running into "go to this site, click this link and this spot is the password to download" messages.

I didn't become that internet-savvy until after we had the Win95 computer for a couple years. On the Mac, I mostly perused an FTP directory I had bookmarked that had lots of freeware/shareware games.

I learned about P2P filesharing in my early teens after I bought my first computer with my childhood savings. I'll always remember the time I was looking up McLaren F1 videos and stumbled into a clip of a British guy with a peculiar manner of speaking.

 

[imported_rik19]

Good replies guys. check this little clip out..

 

[Devil240Z]

I was probably pretty young. I'm sure I used it when I was in Elementary school. Would have been Around 2000 so I would have been about 12 years old. It might have even been a few years earlier cause I'm sure I was lik 6 or 7 the first time I heard a dial up modem sing the siren song of the internet.
Also an anecdote from that time: I remember the first time I was trolled on the internet was someone in Starcraft chat telling me something cool would happen if I hit alt+f4...

 

[imported_rik19]

something cool would happen if I hit alt+f4...

Ha I just tried that..thanks..had no idea...

 

[Lain]

As a brief side note, around 2004 I started frequenting the public library in Eugene, Oregon.

They had a bunch of computers, yet all but a few had web browsing blocked so they'd be available for looking up books, searching databases, using productivity apps like Microsoft Office, etc. Serious crap, basically.

The 4 computers that didn't have web browsing blocked had lousy 30-minute time limits too which made them basically useless. Doubly useless since you needed a library card to log in, which I lacked. So eventually I discovered... opening up a URL in Microsoft Word as if it were a file would actually load the page (somewhat), circumventing the block on the non-web browsing computers.

TL;DR: Used Microsoft Word as my web browser for a bit... until the library eventually caught on to what I was doing and gave me a stern ass-chewing.

 

[coryclifford]

I was born in 75, and I remember when we had to put the phone into the modem to talk to the Internet. Long time ago.

 

[Grayfox]

First time I used it was in windows 95 IIRC, I remember using it on a windows 98 unit and that dial up V.92 modem fun.

I do remember that we didn't have a month to month based connection.

It was a pre paid thing with 40hours or so.

 

[ShaZZa]

Would've been around 1997 so I would've been 16. On 56k dial-up... oh those drop outs when your downloading... er I mean browsing stuff. Hahaha oh the memories of that dial up sound. And quake 2 was just bad if someone had a hyperblaster... the lag was real

 

[Robin]

About 7-8 at school (mid 90's). Didn't have internet at home or computer with a modem!

They were running Windows NT 4.0 with an early version of Netscape Navigator.

Better times...

 

[6ranTur15m05]

I was 6... 56k dial up connection! All I did was playing flash Mario games on the internet. LOL

 

[Kryption]

when I was 5 in 1994, I got a glimpse of dial up.....omg, I was the most patient kid ever to see a picture of a Mercedes...... sheesh.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Prestel-net. I'd figure out the year but it was the 80s and, I know, wasn't really internet...

 

[Liquid]

About 10 years old in 2001?

 

[MoLiEG]

While I don't remember the exact date, I can definitely say it happened after 2000.

 

[Bobert power]

I was about 4 years old when I first used the internet. It was on a dial up connection, and I was playing some Sesame Street flash game.

 

[Roo]

Probably around 1998. I remember the first time I spent more than a moment online; my dad allowed me to visit all the websites of that year's F1 teams, but not for too long as they took a while to load, we couldn't use the phone until the modem was disconnected again and the connection cost 1p per minute.

 

[Wiegert]

Can't remember the first time we had net access in school but I do recall using one of my stepdad's G3s in the summer of 1999. Searching for upcoming movie lists on Lycos and spending far too long trying to get a trailer for My Dog Skip* to load. Would have been 8/9 at the time.

*I never did get around to watching it. Same with the full movie.

 

[bluemoon_19]

think I was about 11 it was at school. It was pretty stupid had about 6 or 7 computers hooked up to what I think was dial-up most pages didn't load or took ages. I only got internet at home when I was about 19 (now we have 65mb fiber)

 

[Carbonox]

Probably less than 10, only used flash game sites though. First forum experience came at 12, shortly followed by a multitude of other sites I found interesting.

 

[Grayfox]

About 8±2.5
It was at home either on a Win95 or Win98 machine
It was pre paid dial up

 

[Prince.M5]

I was 6 or 7 back then, on a Windows ME PC with 56k dial up modem! I was so scared of the sound that the dial up modem made, it was so strange but I really miss it now. I used to download flash games and we had it for some months before the PC died due to lightning.

 

[opelgt1969]

It was at least early 90's I used K-Mart Bluelight (free) dial up. Had call waiting with message that said something like if I don't answer the phone might be on internet, man I'm old.

 

[GTV0819]

Bump.

Around 5-6 years old, some time during 2002 and 2003.

 

[Daz555]

13-18 for me (which is mid 80s). At my local library we had access to JANET which was an early education-focussed network in the UK.

 

[SestoScudo]

I was 7 or 8 years old when I first used the internet at my Aunties house. The website I spent most of the time was miniclip and newgrounds.

Basically internet games nothing else. Good old times

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'd have been about 18, so about 1997 I think.

 

[ghostrider135]

I would have been about 11-12, I succeeded in accidentally shutting down the school internet by downloading a virus on a picture of a Spoon S2000, Of course I played dumb enough that I never got found out.